Beyond the Garland

I finished the Christmas dresses a couple of weeks ago and I must admit, these might be my favorites. I say that every year. I tried something a little different this year. I stepped outside my comfort box and decided to try a square insert. I'm so glad I did. My almost 7 year old has outgrown the bishop stage and I needed to try something a little more age appropriate. This turned out perfect. After I took the pics of these, I decided to reflect back to the dresses from Christmas past.

This is the first Christmas dress I ever smocked (and made). My youngest is now wearing it this year and it is so precious on her.

The second dress may indeed be a classic. This will always be one of my very favorites. The color is quite distorted in the picture. It really is a deep sage green(corduroy). When my youngest outgrows this one, she'll have another one just like it to wear.

The third year was a memorable year. I believe the girls (only two of them at the time) had their picture made in these. The funny thing is that I hadn't finished them when it came time for the pictures, so I had to safety pin them for the time being. The next year I was very pregnant with our third and wanted everything done before I had her. We didn't know the gender of the baby at the time so I just made a day gown that could be worn by either. Yes, I am one of those people that would put a day gown on a boy! To make it easier on myself, the dress worn by my middle child was the only dress that had any smocking on it. My oldest daughter's dress was monogrammed instead of smocked. This was an easy year in the sewing department.

Last year I decided to just use Christmas colors instead of a Christmas smocking so that the girls could wear them after Christmas. Good thing considering I was still sewing them on Christmas Eve ;) And those are my dresses from Christmas past. The best part is that even though I've spent countless hours on these dresses, they will be worn by three very special little girls.

Garland Party

It's Nester time again. She's hosting a garland party. Have you ever been to a party and felt like you were way out of your league. Well, that's how I feel right now. I'm just not really pleased with the way my mantel looks. I should know better than to try new things. However, I'm not one to resist a party so here goes nothing. The mantel:
I'm not a huge fan of fake garland. If I could make it look like the Nester does, then maybe I would be. I use a lot of greenery from our yard. Obviously, I bought the pine garland. But the cypress, magnolia leaves, and other miscellaneous pine are from our yard. The berries are the only fake item up there.

While I'm not overly proud of the mantel, there is one thing that I am quite proud of and that is my mailbox. Just finished it a few hours ago and I love it. I wish I could take credit for this wonderful idea, but I can't. I never come up with these ideas on my own. I'll give the credit to an article from last year in Southern Living. It's super easy to do. Again, all the greenery is from my yard. The pomegranate, lemons, and limes I just picked up at the grocery store. There is no wrong way to do this, so go ahead. Give it a try and have fun with it! Regardless of how good or bad our mantles are, there is one thing that remains the same. Christmas is a time of year to celebrate the birth of Jesus with those we love. So enjoy your time together and focus on what's important...the reason, not the decorations. (Although, I do have fun with all the decorating. Any volunteers to help me take it down when the time comes? (; )

Jesse Tree

Have you ever seen a Jesse Tree? Have you ever participated in a Jesse Tree? What is a Jesse Tree? Glad you asked! The traditional was originally started by Catholics (to my knowledge) and while I am not catholic, I do believe it is a great tradition for all families. Here is the general idea behind the tree...You have 25 ornaments and "open" one a day beginning December 1st. These ornaments depict Bible events from creation (day 1) to the birth of Jesus (day 25). There is also a little devotion that goes along with each ornament to help explain it in children's terms. I enjoy this because it helps my children understand what Christmas is really about and takes the focus off of what the world tries to make it. Last year was our first year doing this and we look forward to it again this year. I wanted to give two as gifts this year, so I got a group of ladies together to make the ornaments with me. (Generally, you have 25 women and each woman picks an ornament and makes 25 of that same ornament and then you all get together and swap ornaments so that you end of with one of each...make sense?)

This year the two ornaments I chose to make were the earth (day 1) and baby Jesus in a manger (day 25). Fifty ornaments later, this is what they looked like:And yes, I had the tedious job of painting/drawing the continents. I know they may not be drawn to scale, but I figured the children wouldn't care.


Now of course, not everyone is crafty so you'll end up with some that are less desirable than others. Here are two of my favorite upgrades from last years ornaments. These girls did a tremendous job. Now to appreciate these two ornaments, you really need to see the originals. They really were a little sad (to say the least). I wanted to take a picture of them so that you could see what an improvement they were, but you never know who's lurking on your blog. I'd hate for them to see the ornament they had made being viewed in a negative way.



I want you to take a look at this ornament. It definitely deserves an honorable mention.
Quite impressive. Wouldn't you agree?


If I could show you pictures of all 25 ornaments, I would. However, to maintain my sanity and to keep my blogging time down to a minimum, I had to choose my favorites. If you don't already do this with your family, consider it for next year. If you need any information, I would be glad to help. I guess I should mention that our ornaments are based from the book: "An Advent Jesse Tree" by Dean Lambert. This tradition has become one of our favorite family traditions.

Oo! Oo! Me Next!

My husband came home from work tonight and said, "Do you have any idea what this package is?" And I said, "Yes! I do!" I was so excited and wait until you see why.

Let me just start by saying that you girls are just too creative for me. Exhibit A:


I just can't think of stuff like that. I sure hope Nancy isn't expecting anything like that because the creativity train stops here.

The letter "C" is for Christmas Music. A girl after my own heart. Love some Christmas CDs. Can't wait to pop this baby in the CD player and get lost in my "hope no one is watching" dramatic car singing.

The letter "H" is for Holiday cookies, which I just baked yesterday. Not to worry. I'm sure there will be a couple more batches before the season is over.

"R" is for relationships old and new. What a nice thing to say. This is their Christmas card (I assume). I could tell by her website that there could be a special bond between us. Nothing says potential friend like a baby in a smocked dress.

"I" is for this neat little book. It is filled with Ingenius craft projects. Do they have one of these for just adults. I seem to be having some challenges in the craft department these days.

The letter "S" (my personal favorite) is for sparkling. What girl doesn't love a little bling, bling? :) This is so perfect. Love it! And the best part...it will go with anything!

And last but not least the letter "T" for tradition. We have read this book and the interesting part about the book is that it coincides with a family tradition we have at our house of a Jesse Tree. I actually have a post started about this, but haven't gotten all my pictures ready yet, so I'll post about that later.

I just had to conclude with this little picture:

In case you can't read that it says "Sorry for the ugly box...tried to recycle".

Merritt, you are too funny! I didn't even notice the box because I was too excited about what was inside. You did a fabulous job and I am so thankful for all the wonderful items you put together. Hope you enjoy this Christmas season with your family.

Also, a big thanks to Donna for putting all of this together. I've had a blast. Merry Christmas to all!